Carlos Monsiváis, with photographs by Héctor García, designed by Vicente Rojo

[gay liberation, counterculture, hippies] Principados y Potestades: de Shows y Público

Mexico City: Imprenta Madero, 1969. In illustrated wraps. 78 pp. 10 ½ x 5 in. Front cover separation at top and bottom of spine and light shelfwear; otherwise, very good. Item #10527

The exceptionally rare, out-of-commerce artist book of the groundbreaking Mexican writer Carlos Monsiváis, and one of his first published works of cultural and narrative journalism, the genre he would come to define throughout his career, produced by Imprenta Madero as a New Years 1969 gift to friends and colleagues. 

Principados y Potestades, Monsiváis’ first published book of essays, covers topics including the major Mexican countercultural movement La Onda; concerts by The Byrds, The Doors, and Los Hermanos Castro; and hippies in Mexico City. Also included is a photo essay by influential photographer Héctor García, known for his portraits of the Mexican artistic elite and intelligentsia, and broader photojournalism. The book also includes illustrations and design by Vicente Rojo, which, at times, intervenes in the writing itself. 

Carlos Monsiváis was a pivotal Mexican writer of the second half of the 20th century, and the most celebrated chronicler of the major cultural and social movements of the era. His work on youth counterculture movements, Mexican popular culture, and the Mexican gay liberation and feminist movements is considered among the best cultural journalism produced in the country in the 20th century. He played a key role in the development of Mexico’s gay liberation movement, and supported the 1968 student movement and subsequent dissident and oppositional social movements in the country, including the Zapatista uprising in 1994. He is considered the defining chronicler of Mexico City in the second half of the 20th century. 

The exceedingly rare debut book of narrative journalism from Mexico’s most accomplished cultural journalist of the 20th century, made in collaboration with one of the most acclaimed Mexican photographers of the era, and a major figure of Mexican visual art.  OCLC locates six holdings in the United States as of March 2026. 

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